A policy-focused examination of the establishment of the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters in Australia

This study is an examination of the rationale for the creation of the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI): the body responsible for the innovative system of professional accreditation for translators and interpreters in Australia. The significance of this research is to interpret a phase in Australia's adaptation to its migrant population through an analysis of the public policy environment which fostered such an innovation. A crucial feature of this period of policy making was that both major party ideologies in Australia endorsed the creation of NAATI, suggesting a shared meta-policy vision of the provision of language services to the non-English speaking population. To date, no scholarly research has been undertaken to document the genesis and development of this policy, nor critically analyse its effects on the profession or on government language service policies.